POSTED: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - 6:49pm
UPDATED: Thursday, March 17, 2011 - 11:40am
Most of the trash at apartment complexes is recyclable, yet the majority of El Paso apartments don't recycle it. It's costing the city not only space, but money.
Dottie Daily lives at Del Prado apartments.
"It's beautiful here, I love it," she said.
But one thing she doesn't love: her complex doesn't recycle.
"I would like to have a recycling program here, I believe in recycling and we're trashing up our world," Daily said.
Property manager Rick Soto, who is also the president of the El Paso Apartment Association, said there's one big reason why most complexes don't recycle.
"Space, theres just no space to put additional dumpsters," Soto said.
This is where their bins used to be, before Soto did away with recycling about five months ago. He also said his disposal company required him to separate the materials like, tin and paper, before pick-up--something his maintenance crew didn't have time for.
"But its also not economically feasible for us either because we don't have the manpower," Soto said.
"In the long run we're saving money as a community," said Katherine Gunter-Palafox, president of 'keep El Paso Beautiful. "The more we defer from the landfill, the more space we save for proper trash disposal."
She said it's a shame most complexes aren't recycling because 75% of apartment trash is recyclable, and pick-up is cheap.
"It would reduce the cost of disposal of the trash and recycling costs less than trash disposal," Gunter-Palafox said.
Soto said he'd be willing to start up a recycling program again as long as it's economically viable for him. It's something Dottie wants to see sooner rather than later.
"Were trashing up our water, we're trashing up our air, we're going to run out."
What Cannot Be Recycled:
Plastic Containers with #3 through #7
• motor oil containers
• glass
• plastic bags
• pizza boxes
• medical waste (needles, syringes, lancets)
• plastic dishes, bowls or toys
• milk/juice cartons (wax coated)
• pesticide/chemical containers
What Can Be Recycled:
• Cardboard (flattened)
• Newspaper and magazines
• Brown paper bags
• White, colored and computer paper
• Junk mail and envelopes
• Paperboard (cereal, pasta, soda cartons)
• Phone books
• Aluminum cans
• Steel, tin and bimetallic cans
• Aluminum foil and baking tins Water / Soda bottles
• Detergent bottles, milk jugs